The Atlanta Hawks committed to Onyeka Okongwu as their starting center 10 games ago. They have gone 1-9 since that decision. Notably, the move also split up what had been one of the NBA’s best bench units.
Okongwu teamed with Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Andre Hunter to bolster the unit. Okongwu took the latter’s trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers at the deadline hard, posting a short but clear message.
“Define heartbreak,” Okongwu posted on X on February 6 in reaction to Hunter’s trade.
The Atlanta Hawks are trading forward De'Andre Hunter to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, three second-round picks and two swaps, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/5fpE4LJzpK
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 6, 2025
In their final game together, Hunter and Okongwu both rocked white headbands. It was their second straight contest in the starting lineup together this season, a role Hunter assumed following starting power forward Jalen Johnson’s season-ending labrum tear.
The Hawks acquired Hunter, the No. 4 overall pick in 2019, in a draft night trade with the Los Angeles Lakers. Okongwu arrived in the following class, selected No. 6 overall.
They were two of the five players from the Hawks’ Eastern Conference Finals run in 2021.
The Hawks had a plus-0.9 net efficiency differential with Hunter and Okongwu on the floor together, ranking in the 60th percentile per Cleaning The Glass. With Okongwu and no Hunter, the Hawks had a minus-3.5 net differential.
Finances and Hunter’s stretch of good health likely informed the Hawks’ decision-making at the trade deadline.
It is clear the moves will have a ripple effect on the floor and in the locker room.
The Hawks were 92-87 with Okongwu and Hunter. They were 48-50 with Okongwu alone out of the duo. Of course, keeping them together has not yielded the results the Hawks wanted of late either.
Of all the moves the Hawks made before the trade deadline, the Hunter trade is arguably the least defensible.
With Bogdan Bogdanovic, one can argue his age, production, contract, injury history, etc.
A similar argument can be made about Zeller, focusing on his absence from the team to this point of the season. In both instances, the Hawks can argue they were winners or at least broke even.
Their return package of Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, two first-round pick swaps, and a handful of second-rounders feels underwhelming for what Hunter was providing the Hawks.
That is not to say that the Hawks made the wrong decision.
It is to say that it is a more difficult pill to swallow than the other decisions in large part because Hunter was having a career year. But therein lay the problem for the Hawks. They clearly felt banking on this version of Hunter lasting was not a worthwhile risk.